On November 8, at the WIRED25 Conference in San Francisco, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announced that the platform will be extending its test of hiding total like counts to users in the US. He further explained it would not be the entire US but they would begin testing in certain areas. The first test began in Canada in May and has since then been expanded to other countries such as Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand.

As with any experiment, the big question is what are the results? Instagram has not released any data on the likes experiment yet. This has not stopped people from theorizing what affects will take place. Will there be fewer people liking photos because they are hidden? Will there be less engagement overall on the platform? People want to know if this action is a good or bad thing. I predict we will have definitive numbers within the next couple of months released from Instagram.

These unknowns have sparked a lot of debate among people in the social media and advertising industry. Some see this as the downfall of influencers, and those who make a living through media following. According to a study conducted by Linqia, 39% of brands plan to increase their influencer marketing budget next year. In fact, 93% of marketers in the study said that they will be spending more than $10,000 on their campaigns. Hiding likes on Instagram would severely affect the ranking of influencers and their reach. Some people see this decision as a way to encourage less engagement. Overall, less engagement is bad for online and small businesses trying to gain exposure through the platform.

On the flip side of the debate, people are seeing the absent of likes as a positive and health-conscious decision. Taking away a number of likes essentially takes away the competition between users. The number of likes would no longer define how good your content or you are as an individual. When thinking about the younger audience prevalent on Instagram, maybe reducing the reach of influencers who promote unrealistic body images and lifestyles is a good thing. There is a real need to reduce the amount of pressure and comparison stimulated by Instagram and its inherent hierarchy that depends upon likes and followers.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri says "It's about young people - the idea is to try and depressurize Instagram, make it less of a competition, give people more space to focus on connecting with people that they love, things that inspire them. But it's really focused on young people. We have to see how it affects how people feel about the platform, how it affects how they use the platform, how it affects the creator eco-system, but I've been spending a lot of time on this personally."

We’re curious to see what YOU think about this change and what you think the results of the experiment will be for the United States. Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. At The Burnette Agency, it is our aim to tell your story through a variety of mediums, clarifying your voice and bringing overall brand awareness! Visit our website and fill out our contact form here or call us at 404.850.2081 for more information